Feedback Sought as County Prepares Community Health Assessment
Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership is moving forward with completing its brainstorming sessions virtually in preparation for its upcoming community health assessment.
The community health improvement process helps communities progress toward better health. The process begins with gathering population-level health information, analyzing it, creating a data-driven Community Health Improvement Plan to address the community’s greatest health needs, implementing the CHIP through the collaborative efforts of various community partners, and evaluating work to ensure outcomes are achieved. It is essentially strategic planning for population health.
The process repeats every few years to make sure new information is considered.
What is a community health needs assessment?
A community health assessment (sometimes called a CHA), also known as community health needs assessment (sometimes called a CHNA), refers to a local health assessment process that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to systematically collect and analyze data to understand health within a specific community. Community health assessment data inform community decision-making, the prioritization of health problems, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of community health improvement plans. Click here for the 2015 Community Health Assessment for St. Mary’s County and here for the Healthy St. Mary’s 2020.
The goal of the brainstorming sessions is to identify community gaps/needs and community assets ahead of the community health assessment process.
Here is how to participate:
- Review the input gathered during brainstorming sessions at the March Tobacco Free Living and Access to Care action team meetings.
- Send all comments and additions to [email protected]. Comments can be made either directly in the pdf document or in the body of an email.
- Submit all input by 5 pm Friday, July 17, 2020.
Health St. Mary’s Partnership welcomes feedback from members of the community.
